Can you be more Kawaii?

As you'd know by now that I have a strong propensity towards cute things. Being an Asian girl, I'm naturally drawn to pretty, cute, girly stuff (perhaps it's a cultural thing). When I found this online store AsiaJam.com, I was pretty excited. The stuff is too cute for words. I want everything, seriously, I don't even know how to pick and choose. And nothing is pricy, which makes it even harder to curb the urge to buy, buy, buy. My guy looks over and says "this is so you! I could almost see you buying the entire store." Yep, I'm on cuteness overload. These are only first 4 things I saw and there are more that I like.
Classy 60's Mod Cape Jacket $26.00. How lady-like is this jacket! It's also available in black and red. But I think the green is the best, uncommon.
Velvet Royal Baby Doll Dress $28.00. I love the rich blue velet on this dress. I don't have a velvet dress. It's sort of an "old" material, if not done properly, it can make a dress look old-lady-ish. It's perfect for this baby doll dress. And I love the big buttons, very retro chic.
Checkered Dolly Bow Flat Shoes $24.00. Possibily the cutest flats I've seen. Most of the shoes are vintage inspired. Gotta love it.
Mickey Mouse Earmuffs $13.90. I love earmuffs. This one has all my favorite elements, Mickey Mouse, baby blue, fuzzy balls.

Check out this fab store by clicking on this

AsiaJam

ALDO end of season sale!

ALDO is having an end of season sale. There's an extra 50% off on all the reduced boots. There are some great deals! And I love it that they charge a flat $7 shipping rate. Don't you just hate the escalating shipping fees based on the total price?

I especially like these boots. When I get end-of-season items, I usually go for the classic style, so even if I can't wear them for very long this year, I can still pull them out next year.

Emela, $149.99, on sale for $34.99.

Domenga, $109.99, on sale for $52.47.

Deseri, $129.99, on sale for $29.97.

I'm very critical about ankle boots. But I gotta say that this one is pretty. I like the knot a lot. Nadda, $169.99, on sale for $79.97.

Bold print

This is the dress I bought on gojane.com for $5.99 a while back (funny how the shipping was more than the dress itself, but it was still an incredible deal). I never got around to wearing it. It turned out better than I thought. I was a little afraid of the print. I tend to go with solid colors as opposed to big prints. But we all should try something new once in a while, right? I really like the belt that came with too. I can keep the rest of the outfit simple, black tights, black pumps. I'm going shopping with a girlfriend tonight, which I'm excited about. Besides the online shopping that I do constantly, I haven't physically gone shopping in a long time.

Will women's clothing sizes be standardized one day?

Read this article, Spain to standardize women's clothing sizes in Toronto Star today. Spain is really setting a good example for the rest of world. I hope someday we will all have a standardized sizing sytem. Some stores' sizes are on the small side, and some stores' sizes are on the big side. There's just too much confusion over sizes. It can really freak a girl out when one minute she's a 6 and the next she's a 10.

"MADRID, Spain–Spain's government has reached an agreement with major fashion designers, including the owner of the Zara chain, to standardize women's clothing sizes with the aim of promoting a healthier image.
...
The program, designed by the health ministry, will also prevent those companies from using window displays featuring clothes smaller than a European size 38 (10 in Britain, 8 in the United States). They will have five years to phase in the change.

The health ministry's program aims to end a situation in which a woman who buys a size 40 dress from one designer may not fit a size 40 garment from another designer. The ministry said the differences sometimes lead women to feel compelled to lose weight.

Designers should be encouraged to "promote a healthy physical image that conforms with the reality of the Spanish population,'' the ministry said.

The agreement also stipulates that European size 46 no longer be specifically labelled as a larger size.

..."

List of my favorite shoe sellers on eBay

Seeing as how much time I spend on eBay, especially looking for shoes, and how many great deals I've gotten (I've had disappointments of course. A couple of pairs didn't fit well, so I sold them on eBay, which worked out in the end). I thought I should compose a list of my favorite shoe sellers to share with all my fashionista friends. They all have a big selection of styles, boots, pumps, wedges, peep-toes, stacked-heels, etc, and most of them start at low prices, $9.99 - $19.99. And their shipping charges are reasonable too. Unlike other sellers who charge like $30 for one pair, which is just ridiculous.

AMI Store

NYC House of Style

Cool Shoes MD

Ensemble Fashions New York Online

Glamour Girl Shoes

Gotham City Online

E Shoe Warehouse

Orangemika

shoehouse1

Sexy leopard print

I love this leopard print peep-toe pump, even if my guy says leopard print kinda reminds him of Peg Bundy, but I ignore him (although if this shoe had a long pointy toe and a skinny heel also covered in leopard print minus the sexy plantform, and if a pair of leopard print leggings came with the shoe, I would be reminded of Peg Bundy too).

If you like this shoe too, get it on eBay. They are only $18.99, and they are in various sizes too.

Guy's perspective - silly shirt

This one needs no introduction. I bring you a new installment of "Guy's perspective".

Wow there are so many possible methods of attack for this horrible
horrible shirt. Well first off it makes me think of crappy drapes from a rumpus room in the 60s. It's really got that "Tacky Furniture" feel to it. It even trumps the classic gawdy button-down the "Hawaiian shirt", staple of drunken co-eds everywhere.

Also I think this type of shirt speaks of a certain type of personality. Like an overly brash used-car salesman or mayhaps your irratating uncle Larry, with the bad toupee. Once again I'm not on the cusp of fashion, but if this thing is what's considered fashionable I'm glad to be on the outside of the fashion world.

Wow, my wife just informed me this thing is 150 bucks! Holy crap! What guy wants to buy a nice belt or a good pair of shoes when they could just as easily blow that much on a shirt that looks like it was cut from a futon? Not this guy!

Hey I never made a jab about homosexuality this whole post! *cough* ghey *cough* sorry.

Free shipping at e.l.f.

Geez...just after I placed an order on e.l.f's website last week, they decided to offer free shipping this week. I still don't know if this offer is also for the Canadian customers. They charged me a flat $7 last week when I ordered. To make the shipping charge worthwhile, of course I bought a bunch of stuff.

Any of you tried e.l.f's products? I'm not expecting much since they are only 1 buck. I was too curious, I gave into the hype. I bought their SPF lipgloss in most of the shades, fake eyelashes, a tinted moisturizer, and couple of brushes. Let me now if you've tried them.

Fedoras on guys

Speaking of hats in my previous post, I think guys should wear hats more often too, but not the baseball cap or trucker hat variety, but the fedora. I think it is HOT. It has an old-world gentlemanly feel, but on a young guy, it's just so funky and stylish, exemplified by Justin Timberlake. An article in New York Times, Old Hat? Not on a Young Head, talks about this trend. My guy and I were shopping the other day, I made him try on a few just for shits and giggles. They looked pretty good on him. However I'd have a hard convincing him to actually wear one. Like he says, we're suburbnites, it'd look over the top here, unless we go shopping on Queen Street West in Toronto.

5 things you didn't know about me

I've been reading other people's interesting "5 things you didn't know about me" posts. Then the hilarious Daddy Likey tagged me. I gotta say it's much easier to read others than to come up with my own. Here we go:

1). I'm a big fan of horror books and movies. I have a near complete collection of Richard Laymon's (one of the most underrated horror writers) books. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago. I was pretty sad. But I've discovered more excellent horror writers since then. And I only go to movie theaters to see horror or action movies, as a result very few of my girlfriends would ever go with me. The only time I can remember that they went with me was to see "Dreamcatcher" (which is not a horror movie by my standard, more of a sci-fi), they all had to get up and walk out of the theater in the middle of it, including a guy friend.

2). I loved LOVED "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (and "Angel"). I still watch it sometimes for old time's sake. One thing I miss about the show, besides the witty banters, is Buffy's outfits. I always thought she had the cutest clothes in the world.

3). Did I mention that I wish I had a corporate job like an executive assistant to a CEO so I could wear sexy secretary outfits, like a body-skimming silk blouse with a tight pencil skirt and 4" Prada heels sauntering down the hallway? Yep I envy those girls. Now I'm sure they'd tell me how much work it is to get gussied up every morning. But since I don't have such a job, I like to think that it must be so much fun getting dressed up to go to work. And you'd have a great excuse to go shopping for new clothes all the time.

4). I love rollercoasters. I love Canada's Wonderland. I go there every summer. Sometime years I even get a season pass. And ever since they built a huge outlet mall beside the park, I go there even more often. We would spend half a day at the park, when we couldn't stand the heat anymore, we'd go to the mall to shop, it has all my favorite stores.

5). I live such a simple and boring life. One of my favorite pasttimes on the weekend is that we go to Costco, walk around eating all the free samples and leave without actually buying anything. We don't find shopping at Costco a good deal for us 'cause there are only 2 people to feed. If we bought food in big packages, they'd go bad for sure. Once in a while I pick up a book or two there, but it's all about the free samples ;)

Speaking of Costco, I think we're due for a trip there. Before I go, I tag Blooming Lily, Diamond Crowns, Fashion Asia, The Fashionable, Pretty Eastern. I don't know if any of you have been tagged already. If so, I guess you can ignore me :).

I want new hats

It just dawned on me today that the one thing that I haven't been buying for a very long time is hats! Which is so unlike me. I adore hats, and I'm one of those people who have a good "hat head". I used to buy hats all the time, all kinds of hats. And my guy loves seeing me wear hats, especially those fuzzy warm ones in the winter. He "complains" that I don't wear hats nearly often enough. Silly me, I have a drawer full of them. I'm going to look for some new winter hats, fortunately/unfortunately for us Canadians, the winter has only barely started. And for the spring and summer, I wonder what kind of hats will be popular, I'm sure we'll see some trend forecast pretty soon.

I've always been a fan of bucket hats and beanies. I think most girls look the cutest in them. They are just so easy to wear and very practical, not just all fashion and no function like some other style of hats. When I was young, my mom used to knit all my hats. I loved them. Since I have quite a few of them already, I want a babushka the most at the moment. I saw one at the mall the other day, I tried it on, my head looked huge, haha! But I loved it, though it was the wrong color, 'cause I want a white one for that snow bunny look.

These are a great deal. Of course you wouldn't wear all the pieces at once.
Preston & York Faux-Fur Accessories at dillards.com.
Hat,Orig. $38.00, Now $19.00
Scarf,Orig. $28.00, Now $14.00
Gloves,Orig. $20.00, Now $10.00
Leg Warmers,Orig. $40.00, Now $20.00




Oh and I had to show this picture. It is too adorable for words!

Minimink Chocolate Russian Hat $35.

Baby's probably thinking "good my head's warm now. But my bum's still cold."

Owl

Is it me or all of a sudden there are lots of owl accented accessories popping out. I found a cute owl necklace on honeyroom.com. And I'm seeing all kinds online now too. I really like them, they are cute and quirky at the same time.

Rich and Wise Silver Owl Necklace $40. Such delicate details on this one.






Golden Owl Necklace, $3! This one is so cute and funny-looking I love it. The more I look at it, the more it doesn't look like an owl, haha!









Blue Toned Big Eyes Angry Owl Pendant Necklace and Earrings Set $10. Haha! He does look angry with those huge bulging eyes. But the light blue colour is so pretty, he can't be all that angry, now can he?

Dress-like trenches and jackets

(Burberry, Temperley, Catherine Malandrino, DKNY)














It seems that for the Spring, dress-like trenches and jackets (worn with bear legs, not jeans or leggings) are going to be really popular. I really like the style. It's a step-up from your regular trench, it's more figure- flattering, elegant and lady-like, just pretty enough for the spring.


I'd love me a coat dress from Stella McCartney's spring collection, $1,995 :O
Apparently it's made of 100% bamboo fabric. What is bamboo fabric? I didn't know bamboo could be made into fabric. It must be an expensive process.

Poppie Couture Foldover Bags

Poppie Couture's Foldover Bags are all the rage right now. New York Times' fashion and style page highlighted them. The Bag Snob just did a piece on them too. I'm obsessed with clutches right now. These beauties sound so perfect, they are roomy and versatile. The colours are stunning, I especially love the shiny black croc, and the light blue python (you can see it on their website), great for day and night. And they don't have a price tag of $2000...however at $300, it's still pretty steep for everyday people like me. *sniff sniff*

The Arianne U-Bra

This bra is such a great idea!!

The Arianne U-Bra $40.

This bra will enable me to wear things with a plunging neckline. I have never attempted wearing any before because you cannot wear a bra with it. You can never hide a bra in there. Even on some of the deep v-neck shirts your bra will still show (unless it's done intentionally). I think the plunging neckline is a very bold style. I could never pull it off without anything underneather for lift and a sense of security. Aside from not having much cleavage to show for...hehe, I never trust that double-sided tape, I have a fear of exposure. If I had this bra, I might dare try the plunging neckline look. I might.

Betsey Johnson

I'm a big fan of Betsey Johnson. She makes the cutest dresses and shoes, her style is so girlie, whimsical, upbeat and happy. I constantly check her website in hopes that I find something fabulous on huge huge discount.
Tulle Bubble Dress $400 on sale for $160. Such a cute dress, even though it's still not discounted enough for me right now in January (gotta pay off the credit card bill first). Quick, drag me away before I buy it.
Raychel Shoes $180 on sale for $126.
Christie Shoes $200.
Pinwheel Organza Dress $485. The shoe and dress are very not on sale :(, but I just love them. Perhaps if I stopped shopping for 2 months and saved up, I could get them, or maybe they'd even go on sale.

Dressy shoes on boring days

Lately I've gotten into wearing dressy shoes on weekdays with simple outfits. We all know weekdays are boring 'cause we have to go to work, it can be hard to get into the mood to dress up. I'm really lazy sometimes too, which doesn't help me at all. Sometimes I can wear the same black pumps for days in a row, just 'cause they go with everything! So I've been wearing some of my more dressy shoes with very simple outfits, which really works 'cause you can downplay the shoes AND add some style to the whole look. I wore my red shiny pumps that I wore to the company's Christmas party the other day with a black top and skinny jeans. That really brightened up my day somehow.

Speaking of red shoes, I'm looking on eBay and I want these.

from E Shoe Warehouse, one of my favorite sellers. These shoes make me think of Valentine's Day, romantic and sexy.

The Honeyroom

My new friend Andrea has this cute little online boutique called the The Honeyroom that sells an eclectic collection of creative urban wearables such as tees, handbags and funky accessories at very reasonables prices. I really like some of the accessories. There are also lots of interesting t-shirts. She's running a promotion 15% off on orders of $40 or more at the moment. Just enter the code honey1978 at checkout. Check it out, you might find something you'd love :)


Black Strawberry Necklace $12. I love it that it's black, not red.




Gold Plated Owl Chain $19. Everybody does the bird necklaces. This owl one is so much cuter :)




Snake Clutch Handbag $38.

How charming

It's probably the winter's fault 'cause a co-worker said I looked pale and asked if I was not feeling well. Well, I know I avoid the sun (and we haven't been getting much sunshine thesedays here in Southern Ontario), but I didn't think I looked pale either. I don't wear makeup during the week at all (nobody at my work wears makeup or dresses up, it's an uber casual tech company), except for lipgloss to keep my lips from cracking. However it probably wouldn't hurt if I tried to put on a little blush once in a while, if I had time in the morning, I'm always always in a huge rush in the morning. So I want new makeup, specifically blushes and eyeshadows in the warm pinkish tones. And I found this. I gotta say the snake accent makes it tres opulent and sexy. I'd get it just for its pretty case. And the colors are gorgeous too, I think most women can wear it. I'd just carry it in my bag and if somebody said I looked pale, I'd take it out and put some color on my face.

Lorac's Snake Charmer Face Palette $35, a palette for eyes and cheeks.

How cute are these?

Guess what they are :-)

......

Pop Bottle lip gloss. Surprise! I thought they were so cute. And at only $1.29 each, you can get all of them.

Guy's perspective - weird-looking models

I was browsing the fashion websites as usual and looking at some runway pictures. I pointed to a batch of pitures of Gemma Ward, whose look I think is very unique and perfect for runway, for my guy to see. He was like "what a weird-looking model!" I told him that she was one of the hottest runway models at the moment. So my fashionista friends, here's another installment of "Guy's perspective". I can understand that the average guys prefer Victoria Secret models over haute couture models. We all know haute couture is weird too sometimes.

So who's bright idea was it at the turn of millenium that all models should look freakish. Whilst looking over the wife's shoulder while she was smurfing the weeb, I noticed all the models in the pictures she was looking at were hideous. Not like normal ugly-girl hideous,more of a side-show freak hideous. These women look more likely tobleed green and beam up to a mothership than to appeal to any man. Iguess the theory is that plain old gorgeous women like back in the 90s(Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, etc..) are boring and we needsomething different. I guess that's a pretty good indication of how out of touch most high fashion houses really are with the real world. Then again I guess in the formula of effeminate men designing for rich celebrity women doesn't focus much on the standard definition of"beauty." I can't wait for freakish alien models to leave magazines and runaways... at warp speed.

Nude lips

(from Canada Fashion Magazine February 2007 issue)

I've always been a fan of pale pink/nude lips. It's great to see nude lips will be big again in the spring. There's something soft and innocent about that look. Fashion magazine says "Nude lips lose their ho-hum attitude this season with a sexy shift toward delicious glamour. An antidote to fall's steamy red lips, a natural mouth factors into the nuder-than-nude essage that dominates this spring in a completely modern way. Not unlike red, perfecting the look can be a challenge, and you'll want to steer it away from its former life as a '90s neutral staple. According to Toronto makeup artist Lisa Aharon, 'select shades that have a more pink tone to them.' A more natural complement to your own lip colour, it won't leave an empty space on your face."

Their picks for nude lipsticks in the picture are (from top to bottom, plus the background "pool"):

* Annabelle rough Velours Creme Lipstick $8 in "Twiggy".
* Bobbi Brown Lip Color $27 in "Uber Beige".
* Lola Cosmetics Lip Creme $24 in "Vienna".
* N.Y.C. Ultra Last Lipwear $2 in "420B Mousse".
* L'Oreal Paris Colour Juice Stick $11 in "Personali-tea".
* M.A.C. Amplified Creme Lipstick $17 in "Half 'N Half".
* Pout Lipstick $25 in "Rebound".
* Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Lipstick $35 in "132 Nude Beige".
* Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick $10 in "Almost Nude".

I think I might pick up some of the cheaper versions in the list. Have you tried any of these? Or are you going to try them? Let me know which ones you like :)

Strong heels

Speaking of the "big crazy heel" in the previous post, I must admit that I am crazy about pumps with thick heels right now. They look sexy and strong, and are definitely more comfortable to walk in than the ones with skinny heels. If you have to catch a subway train, maybe you can even run in them...if you HAVE to, at least you can do it stylishly.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Patent Anklestrap Pump $130 sale
Marc Jacobs Loafer Pump $240.
N.Y.L.A. 'Patty' Pump $79.95.
Isabella Fiore 'Glory' Pump $375

Err...how do you walk in this?

"Dangerously" as my guy says. I think they took this one straight from the runway. I hope no model twisted her ankle in it.

Lanvin Cone heel platform sandal $350 on sale at Barneys.

Accessoryrow

Accessoryrow.com has some cute pieces on sale. Their regular prices aren't that bad either. The whole site is like a big sale. Use discount code "OK1228" to save 10% (thanks to OK! magazine).

Splash of Color Ring $18.20.



Crown Princess Belly Dangle $14. Now I don't have a belly ring, but this pretty dangle makes me want to get my bellybuttom pierced... almost.



I Like Sparkly Things t-shirt $13.99. That is exactly how I feel ;)







Purple Passion Pendant $25.










Dragonfly Dangle Earrings $30.

Double-duty charm

I love makeup in cute packages, even more if it doubles as jewelry. I was actually thinking I wanted more cute charms for my cellphone, although my "poor" cellphone really doesn't need more charms to weigh it down, it's got enough dangly things it can handle, but then I came across this one darling and thought "hey this is perfect for my cellphone and if I got this one, I could retire all the others except for my Happy Bunny one". (And I know it's way too early to start talking about Valentine's Day, but this one would be perfect for a Valentine's Day gift ;)

Dior Pretty Charms Gloss and Lipstick Duo locket in Magical Seduction $55, a couture-inspired, heart-shaped locket surrounded by dazzling crystal pearl drops and filled with two complementary lip colors.